Stories to make you smile from across Yorkshire

3 hours ago

Hayley CoyleYorkshire

News image — From "forest giraffes" to frozen laughs, these positive stories have been making the news over the last week

Yorkshire Wildlife Park/BBC/LDRS A three-picture composite of some fridges in a supermarket, a baby okapi, and a tall concrete building — From "forest giraffes" to frozen laughs, these positive stories have been making the news over the last week

Across Yorkshire, there are people (and animals) doing amazing things every day of the week - and we want to highlight them.

This week we have a newborn "forest giraffe", sailing heroics and an unlikely source of musical inspiration in a Sheffield supermarket.

Young okapi earns his stripes

Yorkshire Wildlife Park A baby okapi stands in a grassy field, with a zookeeper looking on. An okapi has four black and white striped legs like a zebra, a brown body, white head, large brown ears and a prominent snout. — Okapi are known as the "forest giraffe" and are an endangered species

A baby okapi has made his first foray into public view after being born at Yorkshire Wildlife Park near Doncaster.

The zoo has been part of a breeding programme for the endangered species since 2023 and the latest calf, Neo, was born in December.

Kyrie Birkett, section head of hoofstock at the zoo, said it was "amazing" to see Neo take his first steps into his enclosure.

Thirsk for adventure

Lucy Tulloch A woman standing on the deck of a small, brightly decorated sailing vessel. She is standing barefoot near the bow, with both arms raised in a celebratory gesture. She is wearing a white short‑sleeved shirt, dark shorts, and reflective sunglasses. The boat is covered in colourful graphics and sponsor logos. The hull features bold, vibrant patches of red, yellow, turquoise, and orange.
Visible text includes: “NUMBATOU” on the bow. Rotary Great Britain & Ireland along the side, accompanied by the Rotary emblem. The sail has multiple stickers or patches and some printed text, though parts are crumpled or folded, making them partially unreadable. A prominent pink rudder or trim tab is visible at the stern. The boat is floating on calm, clear turquoise water. The backdrop features lush green hills with several white buildings scattered across them. To the right, a larger motor yacht is moored, adding to the coastal marina atmosphere. — Jasmine sailed on a 19ft (5.8m) boat called Numbatou

A young adventurer from North Yorkshire has successfully circumnavigated the globe in a 19ft (5.8m) plywood yacht.

Jasmine Harrison, from Thirsk, has become the first British woman to sail solo around the world in a vessel of that size.

The 26-year-old took 381 days to travel 26,000 nautical miles to and from Falmouth Harbour in Antigua, stopping in 15 countries in total.

Chip hop? Freezers inspire album

Simon Thake/BBC Photo of glass freezer doors in supermarket containing lots of colourful products — Sheffield's Ecclesall Road Co-op has gained national attention due to the sounds of its freezer aisle

A group of musicians have used a row of droning freezers in a Sheffield Co-op as an unlikely source of inspiration for a new 11-track album.

Mat Pronger said he devised the "silly idea" after the appliances hit the headlines with their soothing, ambient hum, which has been likened by some to a gong bath.

The album contains tracks including Frozen Out, Ice Cream Lament and Co-Op in C#, with proceeds going to a local food bank.

Wet stone walling

Nicola Rees/BBC A man wearing green waterproof gear in a stream handling a large piece of stone. — The project is "a modern use for an ancient craft", according to those involved in the scheme

The traditional Yorkshire art of dry stone walling is now being used in rivers to create "leaky dams" in efforts to reduce flooding and create new habitats.

More than 2,000 dams out of a planned 3,500 have been constructed in the South Pennines, with work currently taking place on Marsden Moor in West Yorkshire.

The stones are stacked with strategic gaps to let water through and are better than "unsightly and costly" concrete barriers, said contractors.

Bradford's brutalist best

LDRS A large, multi‑storey concrete building on a street corner in an urban area. The building has a distinctive, Brutalist-style design, with tall vertical concrete panels running down the front. — High Point in Bradford remains one of the area's "most divisive buildings", according to the city's civic society

A tower block in Bradford likened to a structure from the classic sci-fi film Blade Runner has been named as the best brutalist building in the country.

Built in the 1970s, High Point, the former headquarters of the Huddersfield and Bradford Building Society, was recently converted into 87 flats as part of a £12m regeneration scheme.

The Telegraph named the building top of its brutalist list - ahead of the Barbican in London, Bristol's Clifton Cathedral and Preston bus station.

Baa-baa-banned sheep

Peter W Naylor/ERYC Planning Portal An artist's impression of the sculpture on a plinth with the words "Three Bags Full" on the side. It is on a grass mound. The bronze bags have wool sticking out of them. The black metal sheep is standing on the top bag. — The sculpture would have been built on a roundabout in Beverley

A giant sculpture celebrating the nursery rhyme Baa Baa Black Sheep has been refused planning permission on an East Yorkshire roundabout.

Developers in Beverley proposed the £25,000 "Three Bags Full" artwork for land in Beverley and said the sculpture would be "deliberately quirky and humorous".

But councillors rejected the plans due to fears it would encourage tourists to cross a busy road to take selfies, adding it would provide a "potential take-off ramp" for vehicles.

Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.